Rohan Seth

Rohan Seth is the co-founder of Clubhouse, a new type of social network based on voice—where people around the world come together to talk, listen and learn from each other in real-time. Previously, he was a Google engineer and co-founded a company, Memry Labs.

The new social media app Clubhouse has dominated conversation since 2020 for its exciting possibilities for connecting to others in the pandemic era. After securing a $100 million investment in January 2021 and finding a fan in Elon Musk, the live audio, invite-only app is a hot commodity right now.

In 2019, Seth founded Lydian Accelerator, a non-profit group named after his daughter Lydia, who was born with a mutated gene named KCNQ2, which affects brain function. Lydian is working to create custom genetics treatments for his daughter and others like her, while routinely chronicling the journey on his website, in the hope that his research would shed light on how common genetic mutations are.

Through extensive research and conversations with leading scientists, the couple discovered a technology called antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) which can combat the mutation in its infant stages, giving their daughter and others like her a chance of recovery. Though the ASO technology would need to be customised for every patient, which would take months of research, the couple decided to tackle this problem the only way they knew how—as computer scientists—by open-sourcing their daughter’s treatment and making it available to all, providing others with the tools to advocate for their child’s health too.